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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29640111">will you say to them when I’m gone, I loved your son for his sturdy arms?</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/sagansjagger/pseuds/sagansjagger'>sagansjagger</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Miraculous Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Identity Reveal, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Identity Reveal, Pain, Post-Reveal Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 20:13:28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,794</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29640111</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/sagansjagger/pseuds/sagansjagger</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Hawkmoth and Mayura turn out to be too much for Chat and Ladybug to handle, with devestating results.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir &amp; Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth &amp; Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth/Nathalie Sancoeur</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>115</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>will you say to them when I’m gone, I loved your son for his sturdy arms?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Squishysib/gifts">Squishysib</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Something bad’s gonna happen,” Adrien said, pacing around Marinette’s upstairs room at the bakery. “I can feel it.”</p><p>Marinette was instantly on the alert. Something was bothering her kitty, and she had to figure out what. She set her cross-stitch down on the back of the chaise longue and leaned forward. “Animal instincts?”</p><p>Adrien turned to her with wide eyes and a bitten lip. He nodded, casting his gaze to his feet. “I know it doesn’t make sense. But my hair’s been standing on end for a few days now.”</p><p>Marinette furrowed her brow. “I can’t think of what could go wrong.”</p><p>“Anything could,” Plagg drawled as he nestled further in Adrien’s hair. “You’re too much of an optimist, Pigtails.”</p><p>Marinette stuck her tongue out at the bitter, little kwami. Then Tikki, who was sitting on the back of the chaise and munching a cookie, piped up. “He’s right, Marinette. We can’t discount any possibility.”</p><p>Adrien had started pacing again. Marinette frowned. “Come here, Kitty.” She patted the cushion next to her. “You’re going to wear a hole in my floor.”</p><p> Adrien hesitated. He crossed to her and flopped back on the chaise, leaning his head back on the wall and throwing his arm over his eyes.</p><p>Marinette smiled sadly. <i>My poor kitty.</i> She coaxed his head down into her lap, upending Plagg from his place with an irritated huff that Marinette ignored. As Adrien gaze up at her with worried eyes, she murmured sweet nothings and stroked his bangs away from his forehead.</p><p>“Don’t worry, love,” she whispered, pressing a brief, chaste kiss to his lips. “Nothing will happen.”</p><p>“I hope you’re right, Bug.” Adrien sighed. “I hope you’re right.”</p><p>***</p><p>She was not right.</p><p>After three years of hiding away in his lair, Hawkmoth himself had joined the fight along with Mayura. Chat launched himself at the masked villain, slamming his baton into his cane over and over again. </p><p>Ladybug had Mayura to face, so Marinette couldn’t spare a thought to what Chat was doing. Mayura kept her on her toes, lunging forward as her sentimonster wreaked havoc on the city Ladybug loved behind them. </p><p><i>I have to end this quickly!</i> Ladybug thought, performing a complicated back handspring out of the way of Mayura’s fan. <i>Parisians are dying!</i></p><p>The woman had learned how to throw razor-sharp peacock feathers at Ladybug, and the superheroine had already been scratched on the cheek by one. She didn’t know what she would do if Mayura struck her eyes, like she’d been so clearly aiming for the past two hours.</p><p>The suits enhanced Chat and Ladybug’s physical abilities, but even Plagg and Tikki had their limits. Ladybug had never tested those limits, never pushed herself this long in a fight. </p><p>And she was starting to tire.</p><p>She could only imagine what Chat was feeling. They couldn’t afford to make mistakes. </p><p>Mayura threw a hard punch at Ladybug’s chin, which the girl narrowly dodged. She flung her yo-yo forward, intending to wrap it around Mayura’s wrist, but the villain batted Ladybug’s weapon away as if it were a fly in her ointment.</p><p>Mayura whipped her hand back and forward again, and Ladybug had to scramble to get out of the way of the thrown feathers. She closed in again, performing a roundhouse kick towards Mayura’s shoulder, but the woman twisted out of the way and whacked Ladybug with her fan.</p><p>Ladybug rolled across the roof, pushing off the concrete with her hands and leaping to her feet again. Mayura was bolting towards Ladybug, her arms trailing behind her, so Ladybug readied herself for a fight. </p><p>Then she heard Chat cry out.</p><p>Ladybug threw her yo-yo off the roof she was standing on and onto the one Chat and Hawkmoth were fighting on. The cable caught on an industrial air conditioning unit. Ladybug tugged on her weapon and flew off just as Mayura slammed her heel into the concrete where Ladybug had been standing, cracking it. </p><p>She landed on the other roof in a crouch, yo-yo at the ready. Ladybug’s gaze flicked to Hawkmoth and saw what had distressed Chat. Her jaw dropped. <i>Where did he get a sword?</i></p><p>Chat had been sliced across the chest already. His blood was bright, bright red, the reddest Ladybug had ever seen anything be. Her stomach bottomed out.</p><p>“The suits don’t protect us from magical cane swords!” Chat called over his shoulder. Hawkmoth swung the weapon at him and Chat stood on his tiptoes, arching his back around the sword to get away. He did a backflip, kicking Hawkmoth in the chin on the way up, making the man growl.</p><p>“Magical feathers, either!” Ladybug said, seeing Mayura approach out of the corner of her eye. True to form, Mayura flung feathers at Ladybug, who did a cartwheel out of the way. Once she was on her feet, Ladybug whipped her yo-yo forward and bashed Mayura on the side of the head. She staggered, holding her head with gritted teeth.</p><p>Given a second to recover her bearings, Ladybug tried to help Chat. She turned to him--just to see the sword poking out the other side of his back. A guttural scream tore from her throat as she darted over to her injured partner. </p><p>Hawkmoth ripped the sword out of Chat’s chest, backing away. Chat fell backwards, and Ladybug skidded to a stop just in time to catch him. His dead weight forced her to sink to her knees. She looped her arm around Chat’s shoulders, cradling his head to her shoulder, and desperately pressed her palm to the giant gash in his chest.</p><p>“The earrings,” Hawkmoth said, advancing on Ladybug, sword raised, but she was too distraught to really process what he’d said.</p><p>Chat coughed, drawing her attention again. “Bug--” Chat rasped, his trembling fingers coming up to cup her cheek. “It’s cold.”</p><p>Mayura drew up beside Hawkmoth, her fan at the ready. “The earrings,” Hawkmoth said again, whipping his sword to the side to clean the blood off it.</p><p>“Chat!” Ladybug covered his hand with hers. “Don’t you dare die on me. Don’t you dare. I refuse!”</p><p>Chat offered her a bloody grin, his lips turned upward in a rictus of pain. “C-Cold…” His body went limp in her arms, forcing a cry to erupt from her mouth. </p><p>“The earrings,” Hawkmoth said again, holding his hand out.</p><p>“Screw you,” Ladybug said, her teeth bared in a vicious snarl. She felt the sting of tears high in her nose. She turned back to Chat, her precious partner. To her horror, his transformation fell, green light washing over him. <i>Adrien.</i></p><p>Plagg screamed. “You killed my kid!”</p><p>Hawkmoth and Mayura both gasped. The sword hit the roof with a clatter. “Adrien?” Hawkmoth said, dropping to his hands and knees and crawling over to the boy. </p><p>He reached out, but Ladybug pressed Adrien’s face to her shoulder, growling at Hawkmoth. “You killed him!”</p><p>Hawkmoth sat back on his haunches, his hands covering his mouth. “No!”</p><p>Mayura laid a hand on his shoulder. “Gabriel… What do we do?”</p><p><i>Gabriel?</i> The name sunk into Ladybug’s brain with dawning horror. “You’re Gabriel Agreste?” A bitter laugh left her lips and her words were bordering on hysterical. “Of course you are! You’re him! You’re really him!” </p><p>“Nooroo,” Gabriel said, removing his brooch. “I renounce you.” He crawled over to Ladybug and offered the brooch to her. “If you fix this, you can have--”</p><p>Ladybug spat in his face. “How dare you? How dare you think I can fix this?” Her words spewed from her in a frenzy. “The Miraculous Cure only fixes damages from akumas! Are <i>you</i> an akuma? The hell you are!”</p><p>Mayura dropped her transformation, revealing Nathalie Sancouer. Ladybug laughed at that, too. “Oh, wonderful, the whole happy family is back together again.” She threw her head back, her tears rolling down her temples and into her hair. “You could have loved him while he was alive, but no, you just had to… had to…”</p><p>Gabriel looked utterly spent. Tears streamed freely down his cheeks. “Give him to me,” Gabriel whispered, reaching out for Adrien. “Please.”</p><p>She stood, cradling Adrien’s body to her chest. “No,” she hissed. “He’ll be buried by someone who loves him.”</p><p>Gabriel rocked back, stunned. As Ladybug left the roof, she heard an agonized howl behind her. </p><p><i>Good,</i> she thought bitterly. <i>Let him hurt.</i></p><p>***</p><p>Adrien had to be returned to his father sometime so he could be properly buried by his legal guardians. Marinette knew that. She knew it, and yet… As she laid Adrien on her bed in her room, staining the cover with his drying blood, she didn’t <i>want</i> to let Gabriel have him. </p><p>Her knees gave out from under her. She landed hard on her bottom, wrapping her arms around her knees and sobbing piteously into them. Her nose was blocked and her throat felt like someone had taken a wire brush to it. </p><p>Ladybug swore she could hear Chat’s voice. <i>Hey, Princess!</i> She could see that ridiculous grin of his, only this time his teeth were stained with red.</p><p>She threw her head back and let loose a keening wail. Then she slammed her forehead into her knees again.</p><p>Ladybug smelled grass and ozone. She felt a tiny hand on her head. “Pigtails.” Ladybug glanced up, shocked, and saw that Plagg, too, was crying. “My kid…”</p><p>“Plagg…” Ladybug held her hands out, and Plagg flew into them, clinging to her thumb. “Plagg, I’m so sorry.”</p><p>Plagg sniffled. “I know.”</p><p>Ladybug bit the inside of her cheek. Maybe feeling pain would make it all seem real, somehow. She didn’t know what to say to the kwami who had lost his kitten. The bitter thought that Plagg was immortal and lost kittens all the time to old age did nothing to comfort her. </p><p>Ladybug realized she hadn’t looked at Adrien since she’d arrived in her room. She didn’t want to. Seeing his pallid face would confirm the truth: that he’d died in her arms no less than half an hour ago. </p><p>Ladybug forced her eyes away from the Black Cat kwami to his Holder. </p><p>Adrien looked almost peaceful. Like he was sleeping. </p><p>But she knew he’d never wake up.</p><p>It was too much. She bounded to her feet, stomping around. “How could you, Adrien?” she shouted, shaking her fists at him and sending Plagg into the air. “How could you just leave me like that?”</p><p>“It’s not his fault, Pigtails.” Plagg was trying to be the voice of reason, Ladybug knew, and she hated him for it. </p><p>“He could have been faster. He could have--could have--” She slammed her hands into her desk, sweeping her sewing machine off of the hard surface. “He didn’t have to die!”</p><p>“No one has to die,” Plagg snapped. “But he did.”</p><p>“Shut up.” Ladybug clutched her head, tugging on her hair. “Shut up, shut up, shut up!”</p><p>Plagg took one look at her, one look at Adrien, and one look at the wall. “Call me when you calm down.” Plagg phased through the wall, leaving her completely alone and completely useless.</p><p>And she <i>was</i> useless, wasn’t she? Ladybug couldn’t do anything to help save the love of her life. Just twelve hours ago, he was in her lap, purring happily away. Now he was…</p><p>Now he was dead.</p><p>She sat down on the chaise, lifting his head into her lap. Combing through his hair with her blood-encrusted hands, Ladybug bit back tears. “I’m sorry, Greeneyes. I’m sorry.”</p><p>Adrien said nothing back.</p><p>***</p><p>Ladybug left him on his bed at midnight, after she’d said her goodbyes.</p><p>The funeral was a small, private affair. Marinette was not allowed to attend, as she knew she wouldn’t be.</p><p>Two weeks later, Ladybug threw her yo-yo through a window of the Agreste mansion at midnight, specifically in Gabriel’s room. Ladybug landed on the floor next to his bed, the glass crunching under her feet. Klaxons sounded, and Nathalie rushed in. </p><p>“Turn the alarms off, Nathalie.” Gabriel sat on his bed, his shoulders slumped. He was wearing a black silk robe that looked like it hadn’t been washed in days. His hair was unkempt and greasy, and his red-rimmed eyes were haunted.</p><p>Ladybug didn’t care. “I’ve come to collect what’s mine.”</p><p>Gabriel gestured to the nightstand. “Take them.” He sighed. “I don’t care anymore.”</p><p>Ladybug glared at Nathalie, who shrank back and out of the room, presumably to turn off the alarms. They shut off immediately.</p><p>Ladybug stepped to the nightstand and scooped up the two Miraculous. She stored them in her yo-yo and rounded on Gabriel.</p><p>The man looked entirely defeated. “Why’d you do it?” she asked, her words more a growl than anything. “Why’d you fight and kill your sixteen-year-old son?”</p><p>His breath hitched, the first sign of emotion Ladybug had seen from him since entering his room. Gabriel buried his face in his hands. “I wanted to bring his mother back.”</p><p>The news was like a stab to the chest for Ladybug. She rocked back on her heels. <i>His mother… </i></p><p>Ladybug sat down heavily on the floor, her knees too weak to hold her. “So you terrorized Paris just for that?”</p><p>Gabriel’s head snapped up. He glared at her. “There’s nothing ‘just’ about having a whole family again.”</p><p>Ladybug’s lip curled. “And now you’ll never have one.”</p><p>Gabriel gasped. He drew a slow breath through his nose. “You’re right. It’s all my fault.”</p><p>“It is.” Ladybug was done playing games. She couldn’t feel sorry for Gabriel; she had a job to do. “I loved Adrien. We were going to be married someday.”</p><p>Gabriel flinched. He stared at her with wide, searching eyes. “You were?”</p><p>Ladybug nodded. “We were taking it slow. But we both knew what we wanted.” She didn’t know why she was sharing this with Gabriel, the man who had killed Adrien. But she had to share it with <i>someone</i>, and she knew he’d understand what a loss like this meant to her.</p><p>Gabriel stared at the floor, nibbling his lip. “Why? Why did you love him?”</p><p>Ladybug’s hackles were raised for a moment, but then her shoulders slumped. “Why did anyone love him?” Her chest hurt, and she rubbed her sternum. “He was kind, compassionate, and loyal. He stood up for what was right. He was funny.” </p><p>She smiled a little, remembering the way Chat had tapped on her skylight when she’d missed school. “He brought me soup when I was sick. He looked up puns on the internet to cheer me up. And he fought you with me--he was my partner in every sense of the word.”</p><p>Gabriel said nothing, so she continued. “I loved your son for his passion. I loved your son for his sturdy arms. I loved your son… I just loved him.”</p><p>“There’s nothing ‘just’ about that,” Gabriel repeated in a whisper, tears streaming down his cheeks. “Ladybug… I’m sorry.”</p><p>“You should be.” She stood, her legs and back aching. Unhooking her yo-yo from around her waist, she turned to Gabriel. “I’m going to go out to Paris and be their hero. I’m going to do my job, and let them know that Hawkmoth is defeated and that Chat is… That Chat is--”</p><p>Ladybug bit her knuckles, cutting herself off with a sob. Then she lowered her hand and straightened her shoulders, gritting her teeth. “And whenever you see me out there, whenever you see me smiling, you’ll know that I hate you. I hate you so much.”</p><p>Gabriel whimpered. “I hate me, too.”</p><p>Ladybug didn’t feel better, hearing that. She just felt tired. </p><p>“Look,” she said, glaring at him. “I don’t care what you do with the rest of your life. You could rot from the inside out if you wanted.”</p><p>Ladybug planted her feet. “But Adrien wouldn’t want that. He’d want you to move on. He’d want you to take your blackened heart and heal. He’d want you to do something constructive with your life.”</p><p>“Something constructive?”</p><p>Ladybug threw her hands in the air. “I don’t know, start a charity or something. Put kids through college. Take care of animals. Give people clean water or food or medical care.”</p><p>Gabriel’s eyes widened. “Yes, I could… Yes…” He rose and crossed to Ladybug, taking her hand in his. “Thank you, Ladybug. Thank you.”</p><p>Ladybug extricated her hand. “Don’t thank me. Just do it.” She pointed at Gabriel’s chest. “Do it for him.”</p><p>Before Gabriel could say anything further, Ladybug flung her yo-yo out the window and caught the cable on a nearby roof. She zipped out and started her first solo patrol of Paris.</p><p>“You and me against the world, right, Kitty?” she whispered, her tears whipping off her face in the wind. “You’ll be with me, right?”</p><p>
  <i>Always.</i>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Follow me on tumblr at <a href="https://sing-in-me-oh-muse.tumblr.com">@sing-in-me-oh-muse</a>!</p><p>---</p><p>Are you interested in reading or writing fanfiction? Do you draw or edit pictures or even cosplay? Are you looking for a community of like-minded and supportive people? Then join the <a href="https://discord.gg/mlfanworks">Miraculous Fanworks</a> Discord server! </p><p>We are always welcoming new members, and would love to see you. We offer a variety of conversations, from writing support to encouragement for your art to cosplay tips. We even have monthly server-wide events and group writing projects! </p><p>Come join today!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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